Since he moved to Montreal in October 2007, Ivan has won the Montreal Guitar Grand Prix twice (2008 and 2009) and has played in many venues and festivals, among others at the Montreal Jazz Festival’s Montreal Guitar Show and the Deer Head Inn. Recently he has received a grant from Conseil des arts et des lettres du Quebec. He has played with renowned Montreal jazz musicians.

Recently he studied with the renowned saxophone player Dave Liebaman at his internationally annual workshop which toke place in Pennsylvania. He has studied in New York with Ben Monder, Adam Rogers, Jonathan Kreisberg and Ari Hoenig.

Ivan studied jazz at Fermatta Music Academy in Mexico City and pursued his studies in Madrid, Spain at Escuela de música creativa.

Ivan was member of the Denis Chang Manouche. With this group, he participated in the Pacific Contact Showcase and has played in many festivals and cultural centers throughout Quebec and British Columbia. In Mexico and Spain, he played in many festivals, culture centers, universities, hotels etc. Ivan also appeared on two television broadcasts with a latin jazz group and was granted two scholarships from the Ministry of Culture of Mexico City.